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So you think the economic policy under Berlusconi was a success and helpful for italy?

At least he did not kill me with taxes

i can also lower taxes at the price of huge deficits.

so huge that the EU sanctioned Germany but NOT Italy for not meeting deficit criteria, and now the decifit is pretty much under control

He solved the “problems” of your unbelievable election system and helps italy to become more stable and could start to solve the real problems?

YEP: now we have a strong government, no communists in parliament, and 4 political groups in either houses of parliament (from more that 20 before!)

If Berlusconi is the best thing someone can get in italy i do not have much hope for your country.

I do not have much hope either, but that has nothing to do with Berlusconi. Simply put, the Euro currency is "tailor-made" for Germany, and the other EuroZone countries must keep up with german productivity level or perish. Unfortunately, our industrial base specializes in stuff not as much valued as german one: food, clothes, etc. The only thing Berlusconi can do is to liberalize the job market (which he has done) and the economy (which he hasnt done) but it is up to the Italian entrepeneurs to change their specialization in order to keep up with germany.

Anyway, it is funny that you blame Berlusconi for his alleged will to devalue the Euro while your government it is doing just that with the dollar.

So huge that the EU sanctioned Germany but NOT Italy for not meeting deficit criteria, and now the deficit is pretty much under control

Look at the deficit numbers of the Berlusconi years

http://stats.oecd.org/ At least germany has to pay for the reunification. OK northern italy has also to pay for for the mafia in south italy.

and much more important you additionally have a debt of nearly 120% of GDP. That´s double the size of germany even after reunification.

“YEP: now we have a strong government, no communists in parliament, and 4 political groups in either houses of parliament (from more that 20 before!)”

So you do not have a problem with your system and evrything is fine? I know italians who have a complete different view. OK they do not live in italy anymore.

imply put, the Euro currency is “tailor-made” for Germany

So you would prefer to pay the huge huge rates for your 120% GDP debt if you would leave the euro. And that´s just one thing to think about. Do you really want the Lira back? You can thank god that you are a member of the euro zone in my opinion.

“must keep up with german productivity level or perish”

That´s capitalism. You tried it for decades with the devaluation of your currency but the problems just became bigger and bigger... When do the italian politicians and people learn. You can not solve longterm problems with shor term answers. Your currency is not the solution for competitive problems of italian companies because the problems remain while the advantage ( if there really is a advantage) will be gone very soon.

“Anyway, it is funny that you blame Berlusconi for his alleged will to devalue the Euro while your government it is doing just that with the dollar.”

I do not understand that. I believe a lot of people in europe want to have the power to have influence on the dollar but we are not so powerful. Europe is not even a real player in this game. The dollar problems ( if someone thinks that it is a problem) are made in USA and have to be solved there.

We can have a long discussion whether the ECB needs different goals than just to fight inflation and if the FED does a better job looking at the situation we see at the moment.